Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 13, 2011 5:29 pm I have a small and very awkward shaped piece of lawn. In 2009, after some discussion on this forum, I installed 6 Hunter MP1000 rotators and they worked just fine, but left three areas around the edges under-watered. So I bought three more rotators and am now installing them. Two have fitted in fine (another MP1000 and an MP corner), but for one area I bought an MP side strip, to do an area about 4 ft x 26 ft along my driveway. I have located this rotator 4.5 ft from the driveway and pointing "outwards", rather than next to the driveway and pointing "inwards" because I didn't want to drive over it by accident. But this leads to a problem. I have initially turned the rotator down to its minimum, but it still sends water about 1.5 ft onto the driveway, which of course is a waste and a wider strip than in the technical brochure. I'm also finding it difficult to set the angle of the strip correctly so it is parallel to the drive. In fact, I am having problems even seeing the spray pattern as a strip - it is more like an ellipse I think, though this is hard to judge. Has anyone had a similar problem? If so, how did you overcome it? One obvious way is to move the rotator another foot back from the drive, but I am reluctant to keep digging trenches in an established lawn unless I know I need to, especially as I think the elliptical watering area would leave some of the area without water. Also, the ring adjustment that changes the angle on MP1000s, what is its purpose on an MP side strip? I am a little disappointed in the side strip. The other rotators are very good, but Hunter Water hasn't documented the side strip so well, especially the adjustments. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Re: Problems with MP side strip rotator 2Feb 13, 2011 9:39 pm hmmm. I am thinking it just isn't going to work in that situation. 1.5 is the shortest distance. What you could try is the new Toro low precip strip nozzle. Should be available in nearly all retic shops that sell Toro. They go out to 1.2m http://www.toro.com.au/irrigation/view_doc.cfm?doc=512 Now whilst I never condone mixing different spray heads on the same line, in this case they should work well together, both working well of the same pressures and similar precipitation rates. If running over a nozzle is a concern there are options. Firstly attach them to a pop up body. If they are but don't get enough height, you can get very tall pop up bodies. The water enters those from the side, and not the bottom so installation is easy. Now if the tyres may damage the pop up body under weight what you will be best doing is using a swing join off the main pipe rather than directly attaching it to the pipe. That way you have plenty of give without breaking anything. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Problems with MP side strip rotator 3Feb 13, 2011 10:45 pm Thanks for your ideas. Quote: I am thinking it just isn't going to work in that situation. 1.5 is the shortest distance. I guess my problem suggests I have 50 psi or more, in which case you are correct and I can't get down to 1.4m. But if that is the problem, I should be able to overcome it by moving the rotator further away from the drive, which would just mean some extra water on the next portion of lawn. I think that should be OK. Thanks for your comments, they triggered the realisation that I'd wrongly assumed a pressure. Problems with MP side strip rotator 4Feb 13, 2011 11:42 pm Maybe take a look at installing a highflow pressure reducer at the head of the line or even the system. That will even out the pressure to 30psi. Re: Problems with MP side strip rotator 5Feb 14, 2011 6:59 am Yes, I have pressure reducers on the drip lines in the garden, but didn't think it necessary for the pop-ups. But I may have to consider that. I guess it would have to be a different pressure reduction though - the drip system operates at a lower pressure than the rotators. Any comments on what the ring adjustment does please? It is supposed to allow for a curved strip. I don't understand it (it isn't well documented that I could find) but maybe that's why I'm not getting a straight strip. Thanks again. Re: Problems with MP side strip rotator 6Feb 14, 2011 11:40 pm The rotors are designed to operate at 30 psi like drip lines. This is when they are at their best. So are the Toro Precision nozzles. Re: Problems with MP side strip rotator 7Feb 14, 2011 11:42 pm There is some adjustment in the strip spray, yes The ring thing makes it a bit easier but you can adjust them fine without the ring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je0_2pFhs3Q Re: Problems with MP side strip rotator 8Feb 15, 2011 5:20 pm I think I have it worked out for the side strip rotator. If I turn the ring to the left, the side of the area is straight (i.e. the area is a rectangle). If I turn it fully to the right, the side of the area is curved and the area is like a wide flat U shape with the rotator at the bottom of the U. The Hunter literature hints at this but doesn't say so. The way I figured it out was to leave the rotator in the "wrong" location, put buckets over the other rotators so they didn't interfere, and then let the side strip rotator spray onto my concrete drive. I used surveyors chalk to mark out the spray area for different adjustment settings (easy to do on the drive, but would have been difficult on the grass). That enabled me to see that I needed the ring turned to the left (as above) and move the rotator 0.5m further away. It seems to be AOK now, but I think I'll email Hunter to suggest better documentation. Thanks for your help. Hi everyone, Just wondering if anyone has switched from a small square tile insert or normal square waste to a strip drain at all, and if so did the plumber or diy-er… 0 13142 I am not a brick expert, but rendering would be 1 option, it would be costly to do the entire house though.... 2 6682 |